Brother In Arms
by MorningHell
Summary: The Matrix crew finds a strange man unplugged. But is he human at all? Where did he come from, and why? Can they help this man, or will they be forced to destroy him before they can do so?
1. In The Back Of My Mind

*Ahem* 

Okay…This is my little story fling here. It sucks, but I'm not a HUGE Matrix fan…so the plot may lack a little. A few notes from the author if you will…

1: If some of it seems confusing, that's because some of it _is_ confusing. I try to explain things, but sometimes it doesn't work very well.

2: Honest to god and any other holy force on the face of the damned earth, I SWEAR on behalf of any living breathing reader I will TRY WITH ALL MY MIGHT to finish this fic! *Pant pant* I'm notorious for writer's block…but I think I've got a good bite on things.

With that said…uh, PLEASE enjoy. ^_^

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Nakedness, wetness, the longing for encasement, for seclusion again. These feelings Neo knew, or more precisely, remembered them. He recalled them vividly and forgot them vaguely, even at times dreamt them, much as he did now. But it would not be such an unusual occurrence if he was not feeling them so clearly now. A cold sweat trickled down the bridge of his nose as his eyes opened, a very real reminder of the nightmare, and he quickly reached to sweep it away. He breathed out slowly, shifting his weight underneath that of Trinity, resting motionlessly on his chest. The dream haunted still behind his eyes, coiled amongst his subconscious but clear in his mind like a flash of lightening. Ruffling his mussed hair, he craned his head back and sighed, clutching the bed sheets as though to hold himself down to this world. Why were these frivolous memories troubling him now? It wasn't as though coming out of the Matrix was as unnerving as his dream was portraying; it was a shock, unsettling to be hurled nude and cold into hard reality. He was barely coherent when it happened all the same.

            The dream started as he tumbled, fully aware, down the tubes and muck and cracking onto a hard surface, bleeding, terrified. The growls and groans of machines echoed around his ears, threatening to close in on him if he so much as let a breath escape his aching lungs and rip every trembling bit of flesh from his seizing body. And then it was over. And for those few brief moments before he realized once more he was here, aboard Nebuchadnezzar, he was confused and disoriented. The dream made very little sense and had very little personal relevance beside the fact that the event played out in his mind alone. It was probably nothing, but then again, probability held little grounds in these times. There was no more he could do but lie in wait. And so each time the dream came again, he told himself as much once more.

****************

            "It's funny," said Link, leaning over the control panels and biting his lip. "I just can't get a clear signal."

            "And you're absolutely sure that it is human?" Morpheus questioned, avidly awaiting an answer.

            Link started to nod, but stopped, furrowing his brow. "Uh…well, no, actually." He grunted in frustration. "I mean…sometimes."

            "Sometimes?" he raised an eyebrow, folding his arms across a dull gray sweater.

            "Yeah. I mean, there are times when the signal's strong, like a beating heart, you know? But other times…it's like nothing's there at all."

            "Is it possible that the target is moving?" 

            "I don't think so. When the signal comes back, there it is, right in the exact coordinates. And unless this…thing…can travel at light speeds, I'd be able to detect where exactly it was going in the meantime." Link explained.

            "How…far off is it?"

            "Not far at all." He shook his head. "Do you think it's worth checking out?"

            "I suppose it's worth a look. As long as you say it poses no threat."

            "Doesn't look like it." The ship rocked as it glided from a stationary position and pushed along. "Might be a malfunctioning…" he finished with a shrug. "Shouldn't be a problem. We could take it out easy if it gives us any trouble."

            "Set her down, than, Link. I'll let the others know." Morpheus inhaled as he lifted himself from the seat and exited.


	2. Bruised and Broken

"I don't understand." Neo gave a sideward glance to Trinity as Morpheus unraveled the ordeal to them. "How can it be human one minute and…gone the next?"

            "If we knew that, we would not have docked to find out." He stated coolly, looking around. "We're going to investigate it."

            "Any way of telling how long it's been down there?" Neo queried, intensely curious.

            "Not without finding what it is. Link detected it about twenty minutes ago…I apologize if I woke you." He said passively.

            "It's fine. If there's a chance it could be someone…" Trinity dismissed.

            "How could someone survive down there? Wouldn't the droids find them?" Neo mused quietly, almost to himself.

            "Perhaps it confused them as well. The signal comes in and out at completely random intervals." Morpheus surmised. "But whatever the case, we must act quickly."

            "I'll go." Neo said simply.

            Morpheus looked to him in consideration and nodded.

            "Wait, you can't just go out there." Trinity objected. "It's dangerous. There could be droids. It could be an ambush."

            "We would be able to detect them, should they come close enough to be considered a threat." Morpheus pointed out. 

            "I don't sense any danger." Neo agreed, stepping forward. "It'll be okay." He touched Trinity's arm reassuringly before stepping away with Morpheus. "What do I do if it is human?"

            "We'll have to bring them aboard before we're found out. Take caution not to startle them. You can imagine what a shock this would be." 

            "Hm." Neo returned to his solemn inner thoughts.

            Outside of the ship was dark and dank, sentient with a surreal life that was not a life at all. It seemed as though the ghosts of long forgotten things writhed idly about Neo's shoulders, whispering mockery in his ears and envy behind his back for the life that was stolen from them. Ghosts that lived outside of both the matrix and real world, aware of everything and even more bitter than the stale air they existed in. His surroundings were illuminated dully by the lights of the ship as he walked smoothly across the broken earth, coat trailing behind his confidant stride. He despised being out in this world where it was like this. It reminded him of how reality had turned, of things that he had only read in books and thought as passing notions, and how all these things were real now. 

            And just there, in the darkness, he felt something. Nothing phenomenal, nothing he would have noticed had he not been looking for something, but a small read of energy that brushed through his veins, reaching out to him like a beckoning arm from the black abyss around him. He walked slowly from the familiar lights, peering through the dark at a standing-out-something he was sure to see. Figures in blackness toiled about, aimlessly strewn around in the haphazard fashion he saw any other time he was outside the ship or the walls of Zion. Nothing was new, nothing was particularly more ghastly than normal all save for the feeling that gripped at the edges of his mind. It guided him to continue forward. 

            It started out really as a hushed roar of mechanical fluttering, followed by a mere clatter against the ground. Neo knew that he had found what they were looking for. A few more steps forward was rewarded by the huddled figure of a naked man, unearthly pale skin cutting the darkness like moonlight against the cold and dampened ground. Feeling bewildered and concerned at once, Neo carefully approached this creature and observed him further. Sure enough, he had come from the matrix, the port plugs on his body told him as much. But as for whether he was alive or not remained uncertain. The man was sitting up, body drawn into itself, head leaning against the wall and eyes wide open, staring blankly with an eerie blue light in them. Neo came closer still, kneeling down slowly with an arm resting over one knee. He must have been in his early twenties, but marks of strangely graying hair were beginning to grow out from his scalp. His nearly white skin made his gaunt body look very fragile, to the point where it would seem easily breakable. 

            Neo gently moved his hand in front of the man's face, waiting for a reaction in those dead eyes. There was no movement, no facial twitch or even breath drawn from his still body. Deciding sadly so that this young man was in fact dead, Neo began to draw away, but just as he fixed to do so, however, the man blinked. Or at least he seemed to. It was such a quick motion that it almost seemed no more than a mere shadow had passed over his eyes, but his head snapped to meet Neo's. Shocked, Neo jolted back, but paused, studying the man's face. 

            The man raised one hand, bringing it across Neo's face in the same slow manner. He then cocked his head with a whir of mechanical cracking. He appeared to be non sentient…Neo reached out briskly and poked the wet man with a finger in the chest. Pulling back, the man mimicked Neo's gesture. "My name is Neo…" he tried.

            The frail figure did not answer, but instead, again prodded Neo in the chest. Neo smirked, which the man also duplicated, setting an unfamiliar amount of character against his empty features. "What the hell is this?" Neo mumbled to himself. It occurred to him that perhaps this thing was impersonating a distressed man…an agent perhaps? But he didn't feel that seemed likely. 

            "Neo…" came a voice in his ear. He touched the small communication device held to his ear and listened to Morpheus' voice. "Have you found anything? We just lost the signal a few minutes ago."

            "That's…" he stopped, confused. "That can't be possible."

            "Why? What do you see?"

            "I found someone." Neo looked back towards the ship. "Do you think the ship could be malfunctioning? You have to be able to pick up this guy's signal…"

            "You found a man?" Morpheus' voice buzzed briefly. There was a long silence from the ship before the voice buzzed in again. "Wait, the signal, it's back."

            "That's odd, I-" Neo turned back to his new find, suddenly met with a very different sight. The man's demeanor was so unlike it had been the moment before that Neo was scarcely sure he was seeing the same man. This figure suddenly jerked away from Neo with a gasp of terror, shaking violently as he clung to the wall. Droplets dripped from his naked body as he stared at his finder, eyes wide and horrified in a completely and utterly human expression of fear. 

            Neo was stunned as well, but immediately held up his hands. "Don't worry, I'm here to help you." He managed to stammer through his befuddlement. Taking off his long coat, he calmly held it towards him. "Come with me. Please, don't be afraid." 

            The man gazed at Neo with a genuine terror, teeth chattering from the cold and his irrational fear. Slowly, he placed the coat around his shoulders, watching him seize into a contraction of distrust and waiting for what he was sure would be pain. Once he felt the coat heavy around his body, he clutched it, giving into a mad session of shivering. "Yes, it's a man." He told back to Morpheus.

            "From the matrix?"

            "Yes."

            "In what condition?"

            "Fatigued, wet, naked, mortified, you know, the usual…" 

            "Bring him in quickly." 

            "Come on." Neo turned back to the man. "No one's going to hurt you."

            The young man all but threw himself at Neo, clutching onto his shirt like a toddler would its mother. He was breathing rapidly, muttering things in a high, fraught tone.

            "Uh, i-it's okay, come on. Come with me to the ship." He pulled the man to his feet and dragged him to the ship.


	3. Found

Once back inside the Nebuchadnezzar, the man's eyes scanned frantically up and down the brightened walls of the ship. Neo held him upright gruffly, making up for his unused and weak legs. It was clear that he was being overwhelmed from his jittering and dizziness, but Neo had no choice but to pull him onward.

            In the infirmary, he was no better off. He still pulled the jacket around his bruised and battered body which they now realized was dripping flecks of blood onto the ground. Trinity tried to coax him away from his panic, gently placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling Neo's jacket away to replace it with a blanket. "Wait wait, can I see your arm? Just for a moment? I promise, I won't hurt you." She attempted to still his quaking arm long enough. 

            "What is it?" Neo leaned over the table inquisitively.

            "This arm is broken." She whispered to him, pulling his arm out from underneath the blanket. "Does it hurt?" 

            He did not reply, but his manner told her that he was either in too much shock to feel the pain of his shattered arm or it in fact did not hurt at all. 

            "Look at this…" Neo traced a finger up the man's arm, pointing out a series of tattoos, green fluorescent numbers. "12, 9, 20, 8…what are they? An identification code?"

            "Maybe." She studied the arm herself. "That's strange…where would these come from?"

            "There're a lot of things strange about him." Neo sighed.

            "Yes…" agreed Morpheus, examining the pupils of the stiffened patient. "Like this, for instance…" his eyebrows raised and he squinted hard into the man's eyes, blinking repeatedly in confusion. 

            "What is it?" Neo came to look as well. 

            "His eyes are not real." 

            "…What?" 

            "His eyes," Morpheus repeated. "Are not real…they are not organic. They've been installed quite some time ago."

            "How can you tell?" Trinity searched his eyes.           

            "His pupils do not dilate and they only appear to have five sets of movements. Up, down, left, right, and set center, but no gradation in any direction."

            "…Than why does he blink?" Neo said in almost a question. 

            "He doesn't. At least, not the same way or for the same reasons you and I do. Blinking is the only way to change the direction of his eye, it appears."

            Neo found this to be true after a few moments of observation. "How well can he see?"

"Quite well by the looks of it," Morpheus nodded. 

            "But why the eyes?"

            "He may be able to tell us himself…but apparently not at the moment." Morpheus stood up straight. "He's exerting himself far too much…sedate him, quickly." 

            "What?"

            "He's non-coherent. He doesn't understand what is going on." Morpheus motioned to him. "He could panic and hurt someone."

            Trinity applied the syringe to his arm and he fell limp an instant later. He was not, however, unconscious. He didn't seem to be, that was. He lay much in the same condition that Neo had found him in, eyes open and still, very dead looking. 

            "Why does he do that?" Neo pointed to the ghostly man with a thumb. 

            "Sleep with his eyes open?" Trinity glanced at him. "Maybe it's a-"

            "No, that's not what I mean." Neo replied, walking over to the head of the table and staring down into the robotic eyes of the tattooed man. "It's like he's sleeping…but awake…Watch this." He poked the man in the cheek, who duplicated the action, reaching up and poking Neo.

            Morpheus and Trinity looked at each other oddly. "And he's done that before?"

            "He mimics everything I do. Like a simple program…" he furrowed his brow and the man did the same. "When you told me the signal was back, he…lapsed into a conscious state. And he acted like any other guy I've seen just yanked from the matrix."

            "That's very odd." Morpheus declared, rubbing his chin.

            "That explains why the signal read in and out, doesn't it?" Trinity set down the syringe and looked up. "If he was coming in and out of consciousness. When he isn't awake, he turns into this."

            "I suppose, but," Morpheus paused. "But why, if he was merely unconscious, did his signal completely fade out?"

            "Is he human?" Neo asked aloud to no one in particular. The question rang heavy in the air, all eyes watching the pale figure breath in a horrifically rhythmic pattern.

            "He is living." Morpheus concluded. "But there is little else we can tell as of now." He turned away and walked towards the door. "If one of you will stay with him, there is some business I must attend to. If he awakens, let me know immediately."

            "But…" Trinity uneasily shifted. "How will we know if he is awake?"

            Morpheus raised his eyebrows and closed his eyes half way. "That should be simple. You will know he is awake if he begins to act human…"


	4. Human In Some Ways

Neo hit the ground hard, grunting as he felt his back make contact with the floor. A numb pain traveled up his spine as he sat up. It had been a simple enough task. Telling Trinity to go and get some rest after the first few hours as she mended the broken arm and many other cuts on the man's body, Neo had taken watch over the newly found creature. But it was eerie to watch him. He stared blankly, copying every movement that he saw Neo make, but speaking no word and uttering nothing but the purest silence. He was like a surreal parrot, imitating every single twitch and gesture in exactness, but surely must have had some consciousness underneath.

 It was bothersome after a while of seeing him behave as such, almost as though he was mocking Neo merely to get on his nerves. But knowing that this was not the case, Neo had stayed and tuned it out, pulling up a chair and resting a foot on the edge of the table. Hour after hour passed, well into the afternoon of the next day, and Neo began to nod off, one sudden jerk causing him to lose balance and spill himself onto the floor with a loud thud. 

            He pulled himself to his feet with a fierce growl at his own incompetence. The man on the table showed the same scowl on his face, and Neo rolled his eyes. "That's great pal."

            He didn't know how much more he could take of this. He kept staring at those green numbers engraved into the skin, boasting some diversity from the other inhabitants derived from the matrix. The matrix…this was the part that confused him. If this man was not a human, which it appeared he may not be, what place did he have in the matrix? And if he was human…that didn't explain his physical alterations. Why his eyes were replaced, why his hair was gray at such a young age, why…come to think of it…Why was his hair growing out so quickly? And why did he look as though he had been starved for weeks? Why were his wounds partially healed-where did they come from in the first place? Question led upon question upon question, but no answer lay clear in theory.

            He only hoped that when the man awoke, he would not be dangerous. A crazed and deluded man aboard a ship was the last thing he needed. If he hurt someone, Neo would surely feel responsible. But then he seemed harmless enough. Just frightened, as well he should be. His head snapped up as he heard a click come from the table. The man's mouth opened, but he still stared ahead in shock. Neo intently waited at his side, hands resting on the edges. The man let out a ragged breath, fidgeting the fingers of his broken arm almost of their own accord.

            "Hey…are you al-" Neo started. The man leapt up at the sound of Neo's voice, scrabbling desperately away and nearly falling off the table. "Hey, hey, whoa!" Neo snapped, reaching out and snatching his arm. "Just cool off!"

            The man froze, jaw shaking, eyes clicking back and forth as though looking for an escape route. 

            "We found you out there, we helped you. You're on the ship Nebuchadnezzar…" his eyes traveled downward to see his hand clutched around the man's broken arm. "Oh, jeez, I didn't mean to…" he tore his hand away as though the bandaged arm burned him. 

            The pale man merely stared, unnaturally crooked arm hanging in the air. 

            "It…doesn't hurt?" he asked.

            The man swallowed hard, waiting for what seemed an infinite eternity before shaking his head once.

            "So you do understand me." Neo mused, pulling up the chair once more. "My name is Neo…" 

            The other continued to look around the room. 

            "Can you tell me your name…?" he hopefully tried to catch his gaze. 

            He clenched his teeth and bit down on his tongue. "No…" he started in a hushed tone. "No name…"

            "No name…?" he barely registered a familiar presence enter the room. "Does that mean…you don't want to tell me…?"

            "No name." He repeated, wincing away. 

            Neo looked up upon feeling Trinity's hand on his shoulder. "When did he wake up…?"

            "Just now." He replied, careful not to make sudden movements. "Do you know where you came from…?" he asked the timid man. 

            His hand absently clutched and relaxed against the blanket covering his naked waist. "No I…nowhere. I come from…nowhere…" he whispered these things, still certain that he was in danger.

            "Nowhere." Neo sighed, rubbing his temples. Even talking with this man only made things all the more confusing. 

            "I'll go get Morpheus." Trinity said quietly.

            Neo nodded. "And uh…um." He cleared his throat, motioning to the man. "Clothes, maybe?" 

            "Of course." She agreed, hurrying out of the room.

            "We…won't hurt you." Neo informed, just hoping that his words would have some effect. 

            "Don't hurt me…" he bristled, shying away. "Kill me…but don't…don't hurt me anymore…" 

            Neo raised an eyebrow. "So then…you don't remember your name, is that what you trying to tell me?" he'd heard of cases of amnesia before. People came from the matrix, and finding it too much of a shock, blanked it from their minds. These cases, however, were almost always temporary and the subjects usually shook off the mental discrepancy in a matter of days.

            "I remember _everything_…" he hissed nervously, pulling in his broken arm with the other hand. "I don't have…a name…"         

            "Oh…I see…" Neo was as confused as ever. "Uh, look, we're a small crew…I'm sure Morpheus can explain what happened to you." 

            His jaw continued to chatter as he looked around the room, skeptical of the crew's intentions. 

            "So what…" Neo started, wondering just how much he could get out of him. "What exactly do you remember? Before I…found you."

            He gaped at Neo for an endless time, staring dead through unblinking eyes. 

            "You…awake?"

            "Awake…" the young man opened his mouth as if to say more, but clamped it shut instantly as the door opened and Morpheus entered the room.

            He stopped short upon seeing the man sitting up, placing his hands behind his back and cocking his head. "Good afternoon." He said, glancing at Neo.

            The man fidgeted his broken arm, looking down on it in surprise. 

            Neo stood and walked over, mumbling a few things to Morpheus with his back turned to the patient. "He says he has no name. That he comes from nowhere."

            "Hm." Morpheus nodded, coming closer to the table. "My name is Morpheus." He motioned an upturned hand to himself. "This is my ship, the Nebuchadnezzar. Do you remember how you came aboard?"

            He continued to stare, curling his lip as his eyes widened and he shook his head. "I think…" 

            "I see." He came closer still, careful not to startle the man and send him into a wild panic. Sitting down, he looked towards Neo, who stood with his arms crossed. "Can you tell me what these numbers on your arm mean?" he pointed to the green code.

            "…" he made a whimpering sound that may have been the beginning of some word, but shook his head instead, signifying that either he did not know or he was not telling.

            "Is it a code? Are there more like you?" 

            He took a long while to answer, searching back and forth between Morpheus and Neo. "You…are like me…"

            "Well…I suppose that's true." Morpheus nodded. "Don't you…remember anyone else? Anyone else like you?"

            His broken arm suddenly touched his temple, and it seemed to take him great effort to pull it back down to his side. "There was no one before." 

            "What do you mean?" Morpheus rested his chin on his hand. 

            "I was…" he touched his own chest curiously. "…the only one."

            "The only one…where?" Neo prodded.

            "Inside…" he whispered, lowering his head.

            "How long…" Neo started, moving his weight to the other foot. "How long were you out there?"

            "In and out…awake only some…times." He replied shakily, biting his lip.

            "…Do you know…" Morpheus furrowed his brow. "Do you know what you are?"

            "Man…" he answered plainly. 

            "No one. You were the only one there." Neo repeated, ignoring all but his own questions. "Then how? How did you get those marks? Who hurt you?"

            "The voice." He answered. "Sometimes…I woke up…and it hurt."

            "And what about your eyes?" Morpheus asked calmly. "You do know…that they are not real?"

            "They are real…" he countered, touching his face. "Because…I can see…from them."

            "But…" Neo protested. "But they aren't the eyes you were born with…They're a kind of machine."

            "There was pain." He said ambiguously. 

            "Pain?" Morpheus asked.

            "Sometimes I woke up, and there was pain." He said again. He seemed to know that he could not make them understand. "I…it's…I was in…"

            "I think that's enough for now." Morpheus held up a hand. 

            Neo walked to the other side of the table, ready to listen. 

            Morpheus continued. "Neo, Trinity and I will see that he is dressed and informed of certain things.... And there are a few things I'd like to test…" he glanced at the man. "Go tell Link what is going on…and I will call you later if I find anything." He sighed, looking back to the man. "In the mean time…what shall we call you?"

            "Me…" he stuttered, his voice slurring.

            "You say that you have no name…nothing that you were called? Nothing that you were referred to as?" Morpheus elaborated. 

            He shrugged, confused.

            "L-I-T-H…" Neo said to himself. 

            The man looked up at Neo curiously as though he had all the answers. 

            "What is that?" Morpheus turned.

            "12, 9, 20, 8. L-I-T-H. The…the letters in the alphabet that correspond with the numbers on his arm." He pointed out.

            "Ah." Morpheus nodded, thinking. "Well I suppose it's as good a suggestion as any. We'll call you…Lith."


	5. Halfbreed

Okay, I would've updated this story earlier, but for whatever reason, every time I uploaded the document, it vanished. So I couldn't. Many thanks to those who reviewed. ^_^

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            "We don't know what he is." Neo said, leaning forward in his chair. "He seems human…sometimes."

            "Well I never heard of anything like that." Link recalled, rubbing the side of his face. "I'm gonna have to check this guy out myself."

            "It's the damnedest thing…" Neo snorted, cracking his neck. "He says he remembers everything."

            "What's that?"

            "He says he…well, you know, that he remembers everything that happened to him. But…what is there to remember?" Link nodded, chewing his thumbnail. Neo continued. "He says…well it sounds like he wasn't even in the matrix at all."

            "But you said he had-"

            "I know, I know, nothing about this makes any sense." He stared out at the navigation screen. "He could be a plant, for all I know. Some kind of secret weapon that the androids are using against us."

            "I say we dump him." Link held out a thumbs down. "Sounds like bad news to me."

            "Maybe. But what if he is human? We can't just abandon someone." 

            "Mm." He shrugged. "Just seems weird, is all. We can't afford to have too much confusion around here."

            Link was right; uncertainty could mean destruction. But how could they claim to help this man and just as easily leave him behind? "Morpheus is running some tests on him. If there's anything wrong, he'll find it."

            "Let's hope so."

            Morpheus entered the room, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. "The verdict is in." he said.

            Neo stood. "What is it?"

            "He is not human." Morpheus walked a small circle before sitting down. "Nor is he android."

            "Just what the hell is he?" 

            "He's a cyborg." He said, folding his hands in front of him. "Parts of him are entirely mechanical."

            "No shit?" Link was surprised, swiveling around in his chair.

            Neo blinked repeatedly. "How is that possible? Who would create…"

            "That we don't know." Morpheus explained. "His eyes, some bones, implants, even that broken arm, all completely artificial."

            "The arm?" Neo remembered, scratching his head. "But Trinity was right there, fixing it. How could she not have noticed?"

            "It's extremely advanced material. But all manufactured. The actual arm cuts off at the shoulder and is fused with the bone. Inside the synthetic bone of the arm, there is a sort of mechanical piping that allows movement running back up to a device hooked into the stem of his brain. There are intricate wires all throughout the appendage that appeared to be veins at first glance. Remarkable, really." He ran a finger along his own arm as a diagram. "It seems as though the original arm was amputated. Very crudely, I might add. He can control it, but not as well as the other, which is his own save for the third finger's joint."

            "Why so random?" Link asked.

            "It almost looks like he was torn apart some years ago put back together using these parts. We're going to greater lengths to repair the arm, now that we know it cannot heal on its own, and some other broken wires in his neck." He informed.

            "So," Neo lifted a hand. "Do you mean he was torn apart like this on purpose? Not just fixed after an accident or something like that?"

            "That is how it appears." Morpheus nodded. "This was not all done at one time. If he sustained an 'accident' of enough magnitude to destroy every part of his body that is now robotic, there is no way he could have survived. The alterations must have taken place over a period of years, each separate so that his body could heal from the operations…but there is no way to tell why someone or…something would do this."

            "His mind." Neo said after a long while of silence. "What about his mind? Is it alive or is it…a program?"

            "Well I believe that it is real…At least his actual brain is real, that is certain. He seems to think like we do." Neo was slightly relieved. "But there is an implant in at the base of his skull…"

            "What kind of implant?"

            "I'm not sure, exactly. And that's what worries me." Morpheus sighed deeply, thinking for a moment before continuing. "It could be some sort of cloaking device. That would explain why his signal appeared on and off on our scanners. But that would also mean that it is malfunctioning. A device like that should remain active until it is deactivated by an outside source…"

            "So someone was hiding him from us." Link reflected.

"That is what it seems…but we must be cautious. It could prove to have other…more destructive functions." Morpheus suggested.

Neo hesitated, staring down at his hands. "Where is he now?"

            "Eating." Morpheus stated, motioning to the door. "He was asking for you. Perhaps you could get a little more out of him."

            "For me?" he gawked.

            "Yes. He knows it was you who found him." Morpheus turned and said something to Link, who nodded.

            Neo sighed, exiting the room to find his cyborg discovery. He wondered what 'Lith' could possibly tell him. Maybe nothing, maybe he was psychotic and perpetually incoherent. Was he a discarded creation? If so, why was he hooked into the matrix, or at least a matrix like device? Or what if he wasn't supposed to be unplugged? Would someone be after that rendered piece of flesh they concocted? It was question upon question once again. No matter what he learned, there would always be the nagging unanswered questions.

            Entering the mess hall, he found Lith sitting, clothed in a black sweater and tan pants, staring dejectedly at a bowl of porridge like mush. Trinity was silent at his side, obviously unable to get him to speak at will. She smiled tiredly as Neo came into the room, a gesture he returned. "Hey." He greeted. Lith did not look up, but nervously drove his nails into the edge of the table. "Trinity, can I…speak with him alone?"

            "Of course." She nodded, coming towards the door. "Is anything wrong?"

            "No. It's fine." He touched her as she walked by, watching her go out the door with a short wave. Neo watched Lith sit in silence, snorting away the strange and new smells. He sat across from the gaunt figure, startling him slightly. He could see his face a little more clearly now that it was cleaned and had if not a tad more color to it. Loose white hair was beginning to grow down from his head, accompanied by a sparse goatee growing on his face. Lith gaped at Neo innocently, then hung his head.

            "Something wrong?" Neo asked, glancing from the dish to his new acquaintance.

            Lith looked up again, then to the side in shame. Shakily lifting his hands, he cupped the bowl around the sides and held it out. "I…I don't know how…" he said weakly, an infinite embarrassment in his features. 

            "Oh, uh." Neo took the bowl from him and set it down. "It's okay…uh, in the mouth." He scooped up a spoonful of slop and held it to Lith's lips. He took the spoon himself and shoved the contents into his mouth, removing the utensil and setting it down. He stared at Neo helplessly with the mush sitting on his tongue. "Uh, swallow it." Said Neo, letting out a mirthless chuckle of semi-pity. Lith swallowed and gagged slightly on the taste before going for another bite. "So I guess this's been pretty rough." Neo sympathized.

            "It is…different. Frightening…" his eyes flashed upward.

            By this point, Neo was sure that Lith indeed had his own wits about him. While timid he may have been, he was surely harmless. "Can I…ask you a few questions?"

            "Yes…" he said quietly, averting his eyes.

            "Uh…those tattoos. Do you know why they're there?" he pointed to the arm.

            "Because they were on…the arm…when they put it there." He said simply, squinting down from under his grayed eyebrows. 

            "Why did they replace your arm?" Neo rubbed a hand over his face.

            "I don't know. It doesn't tell me why. The voice, it doesn't tell me." He stirred his porridge stiffly. 

            "Mm…and the voice…what _did_ it tell you?"

            "It taught me. Taught me the things I should know…showed me the things." He shuddered involuntarily, tugging at the thick collar on his sweater. 

            "What did it teach you?" 

            "To…speak…to read things." He rubbed under his nose gruffly. 

            "What kind of voice was it?" Neo was confused as to how a mere voice could govern a man without him going insane. But then, when you grow up with something, you don't find it odd. So did that mean he spent all his life that way?

            "A dark voice..." Lith said. "I asked it questions, but it never answered me. It wouldn't tell me what I wanted. It wouldn't tell me why there was so much pain."

            "Must've been hard." Neo leaned back. "How long was it like that?"

            "It is all I…remember…If I had to say so…years…" he continued eating.

            "And you…didn't know about the matrix?"

            "That Morpheus man…he told me about the matrix machine." He stomached another mouthful of gruel. He paused for a long while. "Are you…going to…take me apart more?"

            "No, no, of course not." Neo insisted. "We're not here to make you do anything. We want to make sure no one ever rips you apart again."

            "No pain…?"

            "No pain." He confirmed. 

            "Does this make you…my savior?" he seemed confused again.

            Neo cracked a smile and tried to suppress a laugh. "No, not…not exactly. It makes me a friend."

            "Friend. I think I…meant that." He nodded briskly. "And the other humans?"

            "They're friends too. You can trust us."

            "Trust you." He repeated.

            "Trust us to help you." Neo said. "But you have to tell me everything you know. Everything you remember."

            Lith's mouth fell open a ways, but he quickly shut it with a hesitant nod. "And…what about you? Why are you here?"

            Neo smirked. "That's an interesting story…I'll tell it to you sometime." He stood up, Lith watching him. "You should get some sleep. We've got a bed somewhere for you."

            "A bed." He parroted. 

            "Yeah. It's a hell of a lot better than those pods." He looked from the door to the other man. "Lith…is…will anyone be following you…now that you're gone from the machine?"

            "Following me?" he pointed to himself. "I…I don't know." His blue mechanical eyes shuddered in his head, causing him to shake away the blurriness. 

"Well…come on. I'll show you." Lith jumped up and meekly stood at Neo's side. "I don't think I want to sleep, Neo." He rubbed his hands together nervously.

Neo stopped, turning with a curious glance. "Why not…? I think you have to.

You're tired…that's what humans do when they're tired."

            Lith swallowed, glancing to the floor. "Because…sometimes…sometimes when I sleep…I dream."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

            Neo practically collapsed onto his bed, burying his face hard into the pillow. The events of the recent past played out in his head lethargically, indignantly pushing sleep aside to badger him with questions he could not possibly answer. He felt a hand ruffle his hair, and he rolled over onto his side to see Trinity lying next to him. "You look so tired." She said sadly, touching his cheek. He smiled faintly and sighed.

            "Than I must look how I feel…" he reached out a hand and wrapped it around her waist, drawing her closer. He closed his eyes and bowed his head down, feeling her hands stroke through his hair. "Not a moment's peace on this ship…" he griped, yawning widely.

            "Things would get boring then, now wouldn't they."

            "God I wish things could be boring for once…" he drifted slowly. "Trinity…if you love me…don't…don't wake me up tomorrow…okay?"

            She stifled a silent laughter and closed her own eyes. "I suppose that'll depend what mood I'm in…"

            He mumbled good-naturedly and pressed his body against hers. "Fine. Wake me up. But you only have yourself to blame if you end up pinned on the floor while I have my way with you for doing it…"

            "That would be a damn shame…" she snorted.


	6. Demons and Dreams

            Thanks to those who reviewed so far. I didn't think anyone would like it.

The dream was stronger now, and Neo knew why. It was more foreboding, more real, more vivid and sinister than it had been every other time he experienced it. And somehow, he was sure that Lith was experiencing it too. He was no fool, he could see the similarities between the dream and recent events. Even as he dreamt, he could feel his body twitching and whimpering, bathed in a cold sweat against the hot sheets of the bed, and when he awoke this time, he was every bit certain that the pain was real. He sat up with a start, eyes searching warily through the darkness. It took him some time to realize that he was in this bed, muttering strange things and Trinity desperately trying to bring him to his senses. "Neo? Neo, come on, it's me." She repeated rapidly, turning his head to face her.

            "I…" Neo narrowed his eyes and swallowed hard, placing his hand on hers. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

            "It's alright." She hugged him gently. "What's wrong? What is it?"

            "I, uh, it-it was some…stupid dream. That's all." He assured, pulling back and nodding to her.

            "I'll say…I've never heard you cry out like that…" she scanned him over.

            "Yeah, well…the stress is getting to me, I think." He lay back down, pulling her on top of him. "Don't worry about it."

            "Of course I worry…" she mumbled, letting out a sigh. 

            Neo waited for a moment before slipping away from her, sitting over the edge of the bed. 

            Trinity sat up once more. "What is it?"

            "I just…" Neo rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm just gonna go check something out, okay?"

            "But what-"

            "It's okay, don't worry about it. I'll be back in a second." He stood and walked out hurriedly, making his way to Lith's room. He didn't know why, nor did he know how, but he was sure that Lith had felt that dream as well…perhaps even because…

            A simple theory floated into his mind. For Neo, this dream was a strange glimpse…for Lith, the dream may have been a memory. There were unmistakable parallels between the dream and the cyborg's condition. The strange pain in the forearm and neck, and especially the head. Approaching the door, he knocked once, then went in. To his surprise, Lith lay face down on the floor. Neo rushed quickly to his side, easing him up and over onto his back. "Hey, hey, Lith, wake up, come on." He ordered, gripping him by the chin and shaking his head back and forth. 

            Rather than imitating Neo's movements as he would normally do in sleep, he jerked repeatedly, his broken robotic arm vibrating against the ground in its awkwardly strewn position. His eyes lashed up and down and he awoke, studying Neo.

            "You okay? Come on, what happened?" he grabbed him by the shoulders and propped him into a sitting position. 

            To Neo's horror, Lith looked upon him in what seemed to be an unrecognizing manner. "You know…" he croaked. "You know what. You were there. You felt it too…" he rubbed the sides of his head with his fists, neurotically grumbling something under his breath.

            "Calm down, man." Neo put his hand on his shoulder. "It's…it's a damn dream, that's all."

            "A dream…" apparently a dream held far more significance to him than Neo imagined. "How do I know what's _real_ anymore?" 

            "I…this is real. You, here, now." Neo assured, motioning his hand around the room.

            "Only pain is real." His teeth chattered. "The pain…pain is the only…the only reality…"

            "Stop talking like that." Neo demanded, standing up.

            "Then how do I know?" he growled, recoiling into himself. "It's a test. You're a test…another distraction…another diversion…"

            "What the hell are you talking about?" Neo scoffed.

            "They tear me apart…but…they don't want me to know…they trick me…fool me…every time…But I know…I do…"

            "Knock it off, Lith, snap out of it." Neo was beginning to believe that he was growing delirious. 

            "It's a dream?" he snapped suddenly. "Of course it's a dream! It's all a dream!" he snarled, raking his nails along his face.

            "Damnit, man…" Neo grasped him by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet, smacking him across the face. "There's your pain Lith! Now snap the fuck out of it!"

            Lith's hands were wrapped around Neo's wrists, reeling from the force of the blow. "…Neo…?" he said in a hollow, fearful tone. Had he not been fully conscious just now? How could an android be semi-conscious? He was sinking back down to the ground, but Neo held him up. He could feel Lith's awareness seeping back into him, his shy and frightened, apprehensive nature returning to his demeanor. "It…it's the dream, Neo…" he panted. "_I remember everything_…" he hung his head, seemingly ashamed of himself.

            "It's okay…" Neo let out a short breath of relief. There were those three words again… 'I remember everything'…they must have been quite the things to remember if they could instill so much fear. "Are you alright?"

            "Yes I…I think so…" he fell away from Neo onto the bed, staring at the wall in front of him. 

            Neo sat next to him. "It's what happened to you, isn't it? That dream, where you're falling…and you hit the ground, and you're bleeding?"

            Lith twitched his nose, reminding Neo very much of a terrified rabbit. "If…if it was not a dream to begin with…than yes."

            "What _did_ happen to you…when you were out there? In the real world?" 

            "I could hear those things…coming closer…When I was awake, at least." He rubbed his arm absently.

            "And where were you before? Do you remember?" 

            "I…" Lith touched the back of his neck where plugs once were. "I was…connected…into the machine."

            "Were you awake most of the time? Alone, in the darkness?" Neo posed.

            "I was either sleeping…or not sleeping…but it was not 'awake'." He corrected.

            "Somewhere in between?" 

            "Yes, I think."  He sighed, still staring ahead with a void, emotionless expression.

            "So you knew what was happening to you the entire time." Neo concluded. "Do you have any idea…?"

            "No, I don't…know _why_…if-if that's what you wanted to know." Lith fondled the corner of his sheets between the fingers of his real arm. "What happens to me now?" he asked suddenly, looking away as if he were sure it would be nothing in his favor.

            "Well I don't really know." Neo admitted. "Ah, I guess we'll take you to Zion. There're plenty of people there. You'll adjust quick."

            "You mean you aren't staying with me?" he scratched the growing hairs on his chin.

            "Lith…" he cleared his throat. "Look, this really isn't the place for you. It's a ship, not a joyride, not a passenger cruise."

            He looked as though he didn't understand, but continued on anyway. "Will these people understand me?"

            _I don't even understand you._ Neo thought in exasperation. "Yeah, sure they will. It's where you belong. You're a man, not a machine."

            "I am both…" he swallowed and look down. "That is what Morpheus says."

            "You can think on your own, can't you?" Neo pointed at his head. "That makes you alive. That makes you a man."

            "Oh…" Lith nodded. 

            "Hey, don't worry." Neo said. "You're totally safe now. No one's going to hurt you anymore. You'll do just fine." He stood.

            "Thank you." He stated, looking at his pillow. 

            "Goodnight." Neo said.

            Lith stared blankly.

            "Uh…I'll…see you in the morning." He rephrased. He noticed how Lith's eyes shone with a glimmering blue light, most likely to make up for his eyes' lack of dilation and allow him to see somewhat better in the dark. It gave him the creeps. 

            "Oh, yes." Lith was left sitting alone in the darkness, waiting for sleep as he must have done most any other night.


	7. Mechanical Functions

When Neo awoke the next morning, he found everyone but Morpheus eating breakfast. He wasn't sure if he himself wanted any, but watching them proved to be rather entertaining. Trinity ate slowly, watching Lith with a curious aura while Link wolfed down his food in his usual hurried manner. Lith was eating the best he could, and managed to only use the wrong side of the spoon a few times. "So you mean to tell me you spent all that time," Link pointed his spoon at Lith. "with a voice telling you how to live _outside_ the machine, and it never taught you how to eat? Don't you think it was missing something kind of important? I mean, it sounds like it was teaching you to prepare for something, and I think eating is a top priority."

            "Neo taught me to eat…" he said quietly, accidentally dropping the spoon. 

            "Guess that explains why you can't do it very well." Link glanced up at Neo with a chortle. 

            "Hey, lay off him." Neo scolded.

            Link did make an interesting point, however…Why would the 'voice' be teaching Lith how to do things outside a life of seclusion? Just what the hell was it preparing him for…?

            "Just trying to get him to lighten up a little." Link shrugged.

            Neo took a seat next to Trinity, eyeing Lith. "How you doing?" he asked cracking his neck. 

            Lith did not know how to answer, so he merely continued eating with a nod. He seemed standoffish with the others, keeping his head low.

            "So I found out some things about our friend here." Link said.

            Trinity nodded in agreement. 

            "And what's that?" Neo rested his elbows on the table, suppressing a yawn.

            "Like he's never played a hand before." Link shrugged, pulling a playing card from a deck sitting at the edge of the table.

            "…So?" Neo sighed.

            Link's shoulders dropped and he tossed the card at Lith, who reached clumsily to catch it, but instead it fell to the table. "A man's gotta know how to play, Neo." He informed.

            "Really…" he was not amused. 

            "Also found out our buddy is color blind." Link added nonchalantly. 

            "He was confused when Link said something about red cards." Trinity explained. "It seems that he most likely can't see any color at all."

            "Are you sure…?" Neo asked.

            "Check it out." Link produced two pens from his pocket, one blue and one black. "Tell me, what's the difference?" he held them in front of the cyborg. 

            "Can you see any difference at all?" Neo chided.

            Lith looked from the pens to Neo. "…They are identical…" he looked around the room, apparently confused as to what difference they wanted him to see.

            "There you have it, ladies and gentlemen." Link verified, shoving the pens back into his front pocket and dealing a few cards to Lith. "See here, ace, jack, king, queen, then the numbers."

            Lith stared down at the numbers with recognition. "And…spade…clover, heart…diamond?" he looked to Link for approval, who nodded.

            "You're teaching him to play cards…" Neo raised an eyebrow.

            "You got any better ideas? What else is he supposed to do?" he collected the cards and shuffled the deck.

            Neo turned to Trinity, who smirked. "Don't look at me. This insanity started all on its own."

            "No, man, don't show me that cards…"

            Neo shook his head.

            "How are you, Neo?" Trinity asked lightly, putting a hand on his arm. "You seem tense…ever since last night."

            "Things like this do that to you." He said casually. "Don't worry, I'll be fine…" he put his face in his hand and attempted to rub the tiredness away.

            "There's something else on your mind." She pressed, pushing away her bowl. "I don't suppose you'd like to talk about it."

            "It's not that, it's just…" he averted his eyes, trying to sort things out. "Well, can we talk about this…somewhere else?"

            "Of course." She nodded. They both stood and gave a passing glance to Lith and Link before they headed out the door.

            "You know, I can't say for sure." Neo muttered, scratching his face. "It's just a feeling, that's all…"

            "Since when is it just to dismiss a feeling?" Trinity folded her arms, walking along side him. "A feeling led you to find that cyborg…a feeling brought you back from the dead for that matter." 

            "Okay, okay." He sighed. "I'm just…concerned…"

            "About Lith?"

            "Yes…more or less."

            "Oh really?" she awaited an answer with a regal patience. "Do you…think he may be dangerous?"

            "Maybe…I don't know, it's just a…uh, well, you know how a rabbit looks timid and innocent…but the damn thing'll bite you if you touch it...and he…" He explained poorly, gesturing his hands.

            "So you don't trust him?"

            "I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't really…think it's that. Not exactly, anyway."

            "I don't understand."

            "Mm…" Neo took a breath in and looked up. "He doesn't seem…strange to you?"

            "I think that goes without saying." Trinity replied, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "But…in his situation, wouldn't-"

            " 'Wouldn't I be?', I know…" he waited for a moment. "It's not just that he shies away or that he doesn't understand a lot of things we say or do…it's…it's something else. Something I can't place."

            "What are you thinking?" she propped herself against the wall.

            "His…in his head…" Neo grumbled something, trying to think of a way to clarify. 

            "His head." Trinity repeated bluntly. 

            "You know…how Morpheus said that there was an implant just under a lobe of his brain?" 

            She suddenly lifted her head in understanding. "You're worried that it could be something dangerous."

            "Either to him or to us." Neo nodded. "But it's also…it's also his mind. Like sometimes he freaks out. Last night, he started rambling. Ranting and raving."

            "And you think he could have a psychotic meltdown."

            "Yeah, maybe, something like that." He chuckled. "Am I being paranoid?"

            She shrugged, standing straight again. "That all depends, Neo. Do you think you're being paranoid?"

            "I'm not sure…all I know is that there is something in the back of his mind…not just physically, I mean psychologically."

            "And you feel bad because you know that he trusts you." She mused. "Even depends on you."

            Neo's head snapped up. "I…well yeah, I guess so." He bit down on his lip. "I don't want to see anything happen to the guy. It's been tough for him. But I don't want anything to happen to anyone else, either. He's…in a way, he's my responsibility. I just don't know how I feel about that."

            "I see." She met his gaze. "It's definitely something to be concerned about. But as for an outburst like you say he had last night…well we all might be at out wit's end in his position."

            "In his position…" Neo looked down. "That's just it, Trin. If I were in his position…if you were in his position, what would you do?"

            "I'm not sure. Fear makes people do crazy things." She pointed out.

            "Yeah…"

            "But what if he _doesn't_ feel that way? He is part android…perhaps these thoughts wouldn't cross his mind."

            "Hm…" Neo looked down. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't hurt anyone intentionally…too much of a pushover…but I'm just worried about that weird…anxiety I feel in him."

            Trinity sighed, kissing him briefly. "I see what you mean, Neo. You're just going to have to trust what you feel…" she turned, heading off to find where Morpheus had gone to. "In these times, that is the only thing we have." She added before disappearing.

            Neo groaned and hit his head against the wall. Trinity was right…damn, she was usually right. There wasn't really any logical solution he could think his way to, he had to go with what he felt inside. But he had no idea what he felt. He felt empathy for the abandoned cyborg, but he couldn't let that mask his responsibility to the crew. There were just too many questions, and no one to answer them. So was he forced to wait for something to happen? 

            He trudged back, walking in to find Link explaining some aspect of card playing to Lith. "See now, this card, the ace, can either be at the top of the line, or the bottom."

            "…Why?" Lith took it in his hands and examined it.

            "Well it depends on what game you're playing or how you want to play it." He cleared his throat, looking up at Neo. "What's up?"

            "Nothing." He shrugged, sitting down. 

            "Well he's not getting much from this." Link said, setting down the cards and turned back to his opponent. "So what did you do for fun, anyhow?"

            Lith stared blankly, something he did more than often. "I don't…know…I was being taught only to function." He looked down, but looked quickly up again upon producing an answer. "I-I was taught to paint." He nodded.

            Neo snorted. "Paint? Why?"

            "Taught the basic principles…and forms…but I've never done it." He fiddled with the card in his hands. 

            "Paint, huh?" Link thought aloud. 

            "So I guess you've never done anything for the hell of it, have you?" Neo said dryly, recalling in his life the random things he had done for a thrill. Mostly stupid, but at least they were amusing at the time.

            Lith was feeling his left arm, running his fingers over where the tattoos underneath the sleeve lay. 

            "It's not like there's much fun on this ship, anyway." Link folded his arms and leaned back.

            "So can you…draw things?" Neo asked.

            "I don't know." Lith stated, touching his white hair curiously. 

            Searching around the room, Neo found a torn piece of paper. "Give it a try." He urged, setting it in front of him. Link offered up a blue pen.

            "I-I don't think-" Lith drew away from the items as though they may lash out at him.

            "Come on, I'm not asking Picasso here." Neo insisted. "Just draw something. Anything." He leaned down, hands resting on the corners of the table.

            Lith stared at Neo for a long time before shakily picking up the pen in his left mechanical arm. With another glance to Neo, the arm began to graze the paper at a jerking speed. Neo looked over at Link who was observing the scene with a wondering expression. 

            Lith's hand stroked the paper repeatedly, creating pen lines that were invisible at first, but came into view with another delicate network of inked streaks. In a matter of minutes, he dropped the pen, flexing his hand. Neo blinked rapidly at the drawing, gently grasping it by a corner and studying it in amazement. It was an exact portrait of Neo himself, looking precisely the same as he must have looked moment's ago from Lith's point of view. It was as though someone had merely photographed him underneath a blue light. Swallowing hard, he set the drawing down and looked at Link.

            "That uh…well that's no Picasso, that's for sure…" Link uttered, shocked. Lith recoiled, turning the drawing over.

            "The voice…it taught you to do that?" Neo asked. He was now no better off in his opinions. Neo had asked Lith to draw in order to prove to himself that Lith had human qualities as such, but his idea backfired. The drawing was so free of human error that it seemed the product of a refined machine and nothing more.

            "Yes…" Lith confirmed, prodding the pen idly.

            "Well uh…" Neo looked away. "So we found at what you're good at." 

            "Did I…do something wrong?" he switched frantically between Link and Neo.

            "No, it's fine." Neo assured, patting his shoulder. "It's uh, just that I've never seen anyone draw like that."

            "Okay." He nodded, pushing the pen and paper away. 

            "…Has Morpheus said anything to you lately?" Neo queried. 

            "I have only spoken to him once." Lith said.

            "Huh." Neo cracked his knuckles. "Have you even seen him since the first time?"

            "No, I don't think so…" for a moment there was an awkward silence.

            "Maybe it's better that way." Link suggested. "That guy is all metaphors. I get a headache listening to him sometimes."

            "I get a headache listening to you sometimes." Neo jested.

            "Oh yeah?" Link huffed. "And like you're any better?"

            "I like to think so." Neo retorted, straightening up.

            "Man, shut up." He cracked up into a short laughter. 

            Neo looked over at Lith, who, oddly enough, was smiling, purely at the amiability in the room. For the first time since he was here, perhaps. Neo grinned as well and chortled, making for the door. "Don't corrupt him, Link. We don't want him turning out like you."

            "Hey…At least he's _learnin'_ something from me."

            "That's what scares me."


	8. Tensions High

The next day brought the crew in slightly more comfortable moods, save for Morpheus whom Neo had not seen for a day and a half now. Neo decided to seek the captain out, finding him in the cockpit with Trinity. Inside, Morpheus sat hunched over in a chair, a distant expression marring his features. Trinity perked as Neo entered the room, standing from her chair. "Neo." She said. Her greeting brought Morpheus out of his dazed state.

            "Morning." He said. "I was wondering where you went." He raised his head to look at Morpheus.

            Morpheus continued to carry a hard face. "Is there something you wanted?" he seemed agitated at the moment.

            "I'm not sure…" Neo raised an eyebrow.

            "I'll…leave you guys alone, I guess." Trinity said, sensing either the current tension or an impending argument and exiting the room. Perhaps she already knew what was troubling Morpheus.

            "Something up?" Neo asked, taking a seat.

            "You tell me." Morpheus took a breath and exhaled. 

            "Where have you been lately? Aren't you curious about this new guy?" 

            "Very much so…" he admitted. 

            "So…" Neo waited for an answer impatiently.

            "I've just been thinking." Was all he chose to say.

            "I guess it would be pointless to ask what about." Neo sat back and stared at his friend. "Why so quiet?"

            "What do you think of him, Neo?" Morpheus met his gaze.

            Neo had been only slightly prepared for that question. "I think he's fine." He replied lamely. 

            "Really…" Morpheus pried. "And he seems completely human to you?"

            "Well…no." he stated as honestly as he could. "Not completely. But then again…he's _not_ completely human."

            "No, he's not." Morpheus agreed, looking away.

            "Are we playing twenty questions here or are you going to tell me what you're thinking?"         

            "You know me, Neo. I like the complicated way." He smirked.

            "That's great." Neo sighed. "What are you, afraid of him?"

            "Not exactly, no." Morpheus rubbed his chin. "But you already know that's not the case. You know that it isn't fear because you feel it too." 

            "So I guess Trinity told you…" Neo grimaced.

            "No." Morpheus shrugged. "You did…by your reaction."

            "Then it's the anxiety? You can feel that weird angst vibe from him, too."

            "Yes, that's part of it." Morpheus revealed, looking towards the door. 

            "And what's the other part?" Neo kept his eyes locked on Morpheus, sure that he was hiding something. "Are you worried about how he'll do in Zion?"

            "…We're not going to Zion, Neo." Morpheus said, standing.

            Neo took a moment to run that statement through his head again. Once he had processed the meaning, he looked up. "…What do you mean…?"

            "I mean that we are not taking Lith to Zion." Morpheus rephrased.

            "Yeah, I got that, but what do you _mean_ we're not taking him? Why?" Neo furrowed his brow, demanding a straight answer.

            "Come with me. I want to show you something." Morpheus strode to the front of the ship.

            Neo stood as well, quick to follow. "I know he's sort of mysterious, but I don't think he would hurt anyone."

            "That may be so, but that isn't what I'm talking about." Morpheus thrust a finger to a screen. "Robotic signals. Sentinels." He shook his head, battling his inner thoughts. "They've been closing in on the Nebuchadnezzar slowly but surely, ever since _he_ came aboard."  

            "…You don't think…"

            "Yes. I do." Morpheus took a few steps away, hands behind his back.

            Neo closed his eyes, sitting down in another chair and sighing. "Shit…" he had been half expecting this, but only fleetingly in the back of his mind.

            "If we bring him to Zion," Morpheus added darkly. "We bring _them_ to Zion."

            Neo was silent now, a depressed glare in his eyes. "It's the device attached to his brain, isn't it?" it was really more of a statement that marked his realization.

            "I would assume so." Morpheus validated, looking to the door again.

            Neo rubbed his hands together, thinking. "Couldn't we remove it?"

            "Not without killing him." He replied.

            "And you're sure…you're absolutely sure they're tracking him?" 

            "Can you think of any other reason?"

            "I don't know." Neo muttered. "But what does this mean? That we have to keep him from Zion forever?"

            "Until we can find an alternative." Said Morpheus.

            "Did you say anything to Trinity?" 

            "No. I told her as much that we would not be going to Zion. I thought it best not to alarm her."

            "…But…" Neo started. "The sentinels are getting closer."

            "Yes, I'm aware of that. But until I decide what to do…"

            "They have a right to know." Neo said.

            "I suppose you're right." Morpheus looked down, still lost in some internal affair. 

            Neo sat back, crushed. What was their option now? Fly around aimlessly, trying to think of a solution? What would happen when they needed to restock supplies? "I'll uh…I guess I'll go." He shook his head, standing. "Maybe you should come out and eat something. Get to know Lith, since he's…gonna be here a while." Neo walked to the door.

            Morpheus closed his eyes with a pained sigh. "Neo…" he cleared his throat. "I'm not sure he can stay here, either."

            Neo stopped, staring ahead a moment before slowly turning back. "…What?"

            "I think you heard me." Morpheus did not turn to face him.

            "No, I couldn't have heard you right." Neo suspiciously walked in front of him. "What do you mean by that, Morpheus?"

            Morpheus kept his gaze straight. "He is a threat to Zion, Neo, and he is a threat to this crew. _My responsibility_ is to _Zion_, _my responsibility_ is this _crew_." 

            "What are you saying?" Neo gaped. "What are we supposed to do with him?"

            "I don't know, Neo. But the fact remains that while he is here, he is risking our lives." 

            "You don't know? What exactly are you suggesting, Morpheus?" Neo incredulously dropped his arms to his side. "That we pawn him off on some other crew? Leave them to deal with the androids?"

            "Neo-" Morpheus held up a hand.

            "Or what? Or what, that we just _leave_ him somewhere?"

            "Neo, I know it seems unreasonable-"

            "Well you're damn right!" Neo threw up his hands, plopping down in the closest seat. 

            "I don't like the idea any more than you do, Neo." He stated sharply. "But weigh our options." 

            "Our options." Neo sputtered. "He needs our help, Morpheus. He needs our protection if those things are after him. Weigh _his_ options! How can you even suggest-"

            "How do we even know that he isn't an imposter, Neo? How do we know he is not leading them here of his own volition?" Morpheus pointed out.

            "He's harmless, Morpheus, talk to him five minutes and you can see that! He's confused and freaked out and you want to abandon him?" Neo barked. "We're in this thing to help people, Morpheus. How can we help people if we give in to suspicion?" 

            "No, Neo. We're 'in this thing' to end the war. To win the war. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

            "No." Neo protested. "We can't leave him behind. Those droids will find him and rip him apart!"

            "Perhaps not. Perhaps they are merely tying to find their lost creation and will return him into his stasis mode."

            "And that's any better?" Neo shouted in disbelief. "A life trapped in some program with machines gnawing and altering your body? Great, fine, but why don't _you_ go and tell him the news! Why don't _you_ go and explain to him _why_ he's being booted out!"

"And what would you have us do, Neo?" Morpheus asked. "Keep him here? Let him stay? Let the sentinels get closer to us?" he said calmly. "Could you put this crew in that kind of danger, Neo? Could you put your friends in that kind of danger?" he paused, looking at him numbly. "Could you put Trinity in that kind of danger?"

            Neo stood, tightening his jaw and clenching a fist. "Damn it, Morpheus, that's a cheap shot and you _know_ it!"

            "I'm only telling you the truth." Morpheus' expression did not falter. 

            "That's bullshit." Neo growled. "You're truth is bullshit! You know you can't leave a man behind in good conscience!"

            "Suppose I take that risk, Neo, and he betrays us." Morpheus raised his voice slightly.

            "Risk!" Neo yelled. "Don't think for a second I'll believe you give a damn about _risk_!" he pointed a finger accusingly at Morpheus. "You took a risk when you found me, didn't you? You took the risk that I may or may not be 'the one', you took a risk that I would tell you to shove your prophecy up your ass! Don't stand there and tell me you're not willing to risk finding out who this guy, is or why he is, or if there's any way to help him or prevent others from ending up like him, because it's a god damn lie!" 

            Morpheus calmed, stepping past Neo and back to the screen. "I only listed it as an option, Neo…A dismal, but possible, option. Honest to God, Neo, _I do not know what to do with this man_." He touched the screen gently with two fingers. "I'm going to go to great lengths to find out where he came from, and why, and any other question you're thinking right now…but I need time. And I do not know how much of it these droids will give me."

            "…where the hell do we even start?" Neo's shoulders dropped, exhausted from any further quarrel. 

            "From him. He hasn't told us much, from what I've heard. Has he said anything of particular relevance to you?" he glanced over.

            "No, I guess not." Neo shook his head. 

            "For now, Neo, I'm placing you in charge of monitoring him. If you truly believe he is innocent, prove yourself right." 

            "I will." Neo narrowed his eyes, sighing as he turned again. "And I'll uh…I'll see what else he's got to say."


End file.
